Motherhood, ministry, and the lie of balance

People ask how I 'balance' ministry work and mothering, and the honest answer is that I don't, and neither does anyone I trust. Balance is the wrong metaphor. What I try to do instead is *integrate* — let the kids see me read scripture, let the writing happen in the cracks of the day, refuse the lie that one season has to be sacrificed for another. Some weeks the work wins; some weeks the home wins; most weeks both are limping along together. The grace of it is that God seems to be okay with limping.